The FCA's crypto gateway opens on 30 September, and it shuts eight months before the rules bite

The Financial Conduct Authority published its final cryptoasset perimeter guidance on 16 September, and the summary it put at the top is one sentence: “We have published final guidance on when cryptoasset activities need FCA authorisation.” The document is PS26/18, and the dates inside it are what a firm needs today.

The window and the commencement are eight months apart

The gateway opens shortly. “The application window opens on 30 September 2026 and closes on 28 February 2027 for firms wanting to use the transitional arrangements,” the FCA writes. The regime itself arrives much later: its regime page states that “the new cryptoasset regime is expected to come into force on 25 October 2027”.

That leaves five months to apply and then eight months before the rules commence. The gap is the FCA’s own choice rather than a statutory floor. Its gateway page sets the minimum: the application period “must be at least 28 days long and must close at least 28 days prior to the commencement of the new regime”. The window the regulator has actually set is roughly five times the minimum length and closes about eight times earlier than it needs to.

Two readings fit. One is processing capacity: a regulator expecting to clear applications quickly would need less than most of a year between the last submission and the start date. The other the FCA supplies itself, further down this same page, and it is the better evidenced of the two: the perimeter guidance is still moving, with a further consultation planned for late 2026 and revised guidance aimed at early 2027.

Existing registrations start again

The line that changes the most work sits under “Next steps”: “Read our guidance and work out whether you need FCA authorisation or a variation of permission. Existing registrations and permissions won’t convert automatically.”

A firm on the cryptoasset register under the Money Laundering Regulations holds an AML registration, which is a narrower thing than authorisation under the Financial Services and Markets Act. The new regime creates regulated activities, and those require permission. Being registered today puts a firm in the queue rather than through the gate.

The same applies from the other direction. A firm already authorised under FSMA for something else needs “a variation of permission” to add a cryptoasset activity, which is its own application.

Who the guidance is written for

The FCA lists six groups. Firms “carrying out, or planning to carry out, regulated cryptoasset activities in the UK, such as safeguarding cryptoassets, operating a trading platform, or arranging deals or staking”. Firms already authorised that “may need extra permissions”. Firms registered under the Money Laundering Regulations. Issuers of electronic money and payment service providers. Traditional finance firms exploring cryptoasset markets. And “overseas firms providing cryptoasset services to UK consumers”.

The last of those carries the widest reach. An offshore exchange serving UK customers sits inside the perimeter on the FCA’s reading, which is what a perimeter document is for.

The statutory basis is already made. On 4 February 2026 the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 were made by Parliament, and from 25 October 2027 they “will introduce new regulated activities for cryptoassets into our perimeter”. Anyone carrying on those activities by way of business in the UK “will need to apply for authorisation, unless there is a relevant exemption or they are able to use the savings or transitional run off provisions”.

Most of the rulebook is already published

PS26/18 completes a set rather than opening one. On 30 June 2026 the FCA published its final rules across five policy statements: admissions and disclosures and market abuse in PS26/9, stablecoin issuance in PS26/10, regulated cryptoasset activities in PS26/11, prudential rules in PS26/12, and the application of the FCA Handbook in PS26/13.

Those rules “will apply to all cryptoasset firms who have been granted permission to operate under FSMA on or after 25 October 2027”. A firm reading PS26/18 to work out whether it is in scope can then read the other five to find what applies once it is.

The support on offer, and the part still moving

The FCA names a pre-application support service, PASS, alongside a run of webinars. The six it lists as upcoming fall between 7 and 29 September: admissions and disclosures with the market abuse regime, stablecoin issuance, regulated cryptoasset activities, applying the Handbook, getting authorised, and the prudential regime for cryptoasset firms. More follow, in the FCA’s words, “over the coming months”. Dual-regulated firms “should also contact the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)”.

One piece is still in motion. “We plan to consult on further changes to our perimeter guidance in late 2026, following a Government statutory instrument amending the underlying regulations,” the FCA writes. “We aim to publish that guidance in early 2027.” So a firm applying in the window will do so against guidance the regulator has already said it intends to revise, with the revision landing after the window shuts.

Where this leaves a firm reading it today

The guidance came out of CP26/13, which the FCA consulted on in April 2026 and which drew 78 responses, with “most respondents” supporting the approach. The perimeter it describes is now final in the FCA’s own terms.

Fourteen days separate today from the opening of the gateway, and five months separate that from its close. For a firm on the MLR register, the work in those fourteen days is to decide which permissions to apply for, because authorisation under FSMA is a fresh application in its own right.